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Here's an interesting pair, Ron Reich's Superman and Lois Lane Spinoffs which he used in 1986 or '87 for a multi-kite ballet routine. Both of these were picked up on ebay from Ron as sails only and are pending a correctly done frame up. I started to frame Superman, but stopped when I realized a proper job needed to be done. The most awesome Mike Dennis sent me a Spinoff bridle to use, but now I need some advice on what kind of tubes and fittings to use.

Do you want to keep them retro or update them? Original Spin off standards used fiberglass K75's at .350" diameter and vinyl tubing for connectors, aluminum arrow nock inserts and nocks. Ultralights used E40 fiberglass. I'm not finding the external ferrule you'll need for the original style center T for the K75's or the E40's. As Ron's competition kites they probably had a better frame, possibly Easton tubes depending on the date, good luck with that. But also popular back then and still readily available would be the pultruded carbon tubes, usually back then in a .2540" diameter for a standard. Again hard to find that center T external ferrule today. Drop down to the .2300" diameter and you'd be in business especially if you would prefer to upgrade the fittings. The .2300" is slightly more flexible then the K75 but 8 grams lighter while being significantly stiffer then the E40's and still lighter, That would keep them framed in tubes that were available when they were originally built. For fittings then you could go retro and I might be able to help you with the vinyl tubing or upgrade to more reliable and easier to separate. APA-B's, Tradewinds or FSD's for the leading edges. Being a straight T the Tradewinds or FSD leading edge connectors can also be modded to work as the center T fitting with an aluminum external ferrule for a neater modernized job or stay with the old vinyl tube type if you prefer the full retro option.

We reframed a NOS Hawaiian UL we scored in Skyshark Camo P400's, it was missing the spreaders and it really didn't make sense to replace them and leave the kite that spindly with such a narrow wind range. Quite pleased with the results. Jon currently has Camo P2X or P4X or P100/200/300's seconds all at great prices, any will work depending on the wind range you want. The Tradewinds or FSD LE connector will still work for the center T with just a bit more mods/planning, I used a similar one on ours, the stock one won't fit Skysharks.

$25 - $30 a kite for parts if you don't want to keep them historic, no mods to the sails so a collector could revert them anytime and you'll enjoy them more today.

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Thanks Mike, I love the price on those SS P4x camo tubes. The .244 ID will make assembly a snap with internal carbon ferrules and insertable nock ends. I also like your center-t approach. I'll put an order in today! Thanks again for the education.

As a follow up to my Spinoff framing project, I decided to use carbon rods and APA fittings to make the kite flyable again. So, I put in an order for a bunch of Sky Shark 32.5" P4X camos (at $3.50/tube ), APAs, arrow nocks, carbon ferrules, etc. and framed it up one rainy day. Yesterday was a gorgeous spring day and I had enough wind to boot to try it out. I was very happy with the result. This is my first experience with a Spinoff and found it to be a nice straight flyer with crisp corners and graceful tracking when making curved patterns. The kite also side slides surprisingly well and can even axle or half axle.

Modern APA with Sky Shark P4X camo LS.

Upper spreader is Sky Shark P100. Leading edges and spine are all 32.5" P4X connected with internal carbon ferrules.

The spine is finished off with an arrow nock. For the center T, I chose a hard rubber T fitting and an internal carbon ferrule to bayonet through and connect the two lower spreaders.

The bridle is a NOS Spinoff bridle.

The kite flies great and sounds great. A big thanks to GWTW sages for all of the advice and recommendations. The project was really quite simple, but without proper guidance, would have easily ended as a disappointment. Next up is Lois Lane. I think I will stack these two together!

Indeed I do! And thanks for the vote of confidence. We now have a pair of 'basic' Spin-Offs (original framing, no stand-offs) and these unique custom Spin-Offs. Will be interesting to fly the 'basic' and 'custom' ones side-by-side. Expect the modern framing and the stand-offs to make quite a bit of difference.

Indeed I do! And thanks for the vote of confidence. We now have a pair of 'basic' Spin-Offs (original framing, no stand-offs) and these unique custom Spin-Offs. Will be interesting to fly the 'basic' and 'custom' ones side-by-side. Expect the modern framing and the stand-offs to make quite a bit of difference.

I reframed mine in P300s. Helped lower the wind range. You may want to add a little weight to the lower spine. the original spine spreader piece was heavier. The ones I reframed are a little nose heavy and in light winds the nose will drop around. Nothing major, just an observation. I love Spin offs!

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